Sunoco LP $SUN is Alps Advisors Inc.’s 5th Largest Position

Alps Advisors Inc. grew its position in Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 24,856,265 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 766,781 shares during the period. Sunoco comprises about 7.6% of Alps Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Alps Advisors Inc. owned about 0.12% of Sunoco worth $1,302,717,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SUN. Ancora Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sunoco in the third quarter valued at about $40,000. Cresta Advisors Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Sunoco in the fourth quarter valued at about $64,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Sunoco in the fourth quarter valued at about $95,000. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sunoco in the third quarter valued at about $100,000. Finally, State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in shares of Sunoco in the second quarter valued at about $111,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 24.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SUN has been the subject of several analyst reports. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Sunoco from $66.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Sunoco from $71.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Sunoco in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Sunoco from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Sunoco from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sunoco currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.13.

Sunoco Trading Down 2.1%

NYSE:SUN opened at $64.43 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.20 billion, a PE ratio of 16.48 and a beta of 0.43. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $66.87 and its 200 day moving average is $61.40. Sunoco LP has a 12 month low of $47.98 and a 12 month high of $72.88.

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas company reported $2.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $1.14. Sunoco had a return on equity of 17.52% and a net margin of 3.07%.The company had revenue of $10.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.21 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 106.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Sunoco LP will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Sunoco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th were paid a $0.9899 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 8th. This is a positive change from Sunoco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $3.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.1%. Sunoco’s dividend payout ratio is 101.28%.

Sunoco Profile

Sunoco LP (NYSE: SUN) is an independent master limited partnership that specializes in the distribution and marketing of transportation fuels and related products. The company operates through two primary segments: wholesale fuel distribution and retail marketing. In wholesale distribution, Sunoco supplies branded fuels to distributors, commercial customers and resellers across the United States. Its retail marketing arm operates a network of company‐owned and franchised Sunoco branded service stations and convenience stores, providing gasoline, diesel, ethanol blends and lubricants to consumers.

Sunoco’s product portfolio extends beyond traditional fuels to include biofuels, specialty chemicals and on‐road diesel treated to meet ultra‐low sulfur requirements.